Date:19/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/19/stories/2006011913810300.htm

National

Indira will be known for her courage: Karan Singh

Staff Reporter

Pays tribute while releasing a book on her

NEW DELHI: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations president, Karan Singh, on Tuesday said the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had many qualities and varied interests but her courage and fierce patriotism will always be remembered.

Speaking at the release of "Krantija", Hindi version of Uma Vasudev's book "Indira Gandhi: Courage Under Fire", at India International Centre here, Dr. Singh said: "My introduction to Indira Gandhi was through Pandit Nehru's book `Letters from a Father to his Daughter'. From 1949 to 1984 I had many occasions to meet and interact with Indiraji. I saw her metamorphosis from a dutiful daughter -- who would be the perfect hostess during breakfast meetings organised by her father -- to a politician and then a statesman. As a hostess, she was meticulous and made table plans. Behind the domestic activity lay a very sharp and shrewd political mind." Dr. Singh said Indira Gandhi had a difficult life as a youngster but dismissed the notion that "she was a political creature". "She had interest in wildlife and environment. In fact, she led a delegation to the first United Nations conference on environment. She had great taste and showed lot of interest in arts and culture. Her finest hour was from 1967 to 1977 when Bangladesh gained freedom. She played her cards with consummate skills at a time when lakhs of refugees were pouring into the country from Bangladesh."

Stating that the late leader was shattered after her son Sanjay Gandhi was killed in a plane crash, Dr. Singh said that she refused to change her Sikh bodyguards even after the launch of Operation Bluestar.

"Writing three books on Indira Gandhi was like re-living history. She was born during turbulent times when India was in the throes of its battle for freedom from the British rule. She grew up when the riches, affluence and the style of the Nehrus were willingly sacrificed to the spartan norms and non-violent means stipulated by Mahatma Gandhi," said Ms. Vasudev.